Parents can check up on kids' driving

SPRINGFIELD — Parents will be able to review their teens' driving records on the Internet under a new law aimed at helping minors become better drivers.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed the legislation that will give parents and guardians access to their teen's driving records through a Web site that will be set up and run by the office of Secretary of State Jesse White.

"By giving adults access to these driving records, we are giving them a tool to keep them more involved in their teenagers' driving patterns" as they move through the state's graduated driver's licensing program, White said.

The new law will let parents review the driving records of their children until they turn 18. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago) and Rep. John D'Amico (D-Chicago), arose from a White task force inspired by a Tribune series on teen driving.

"It's just one more step in the process of letting the parents get more involved with their kids when they're driving," D'Amico said. As a result, teens will become more responsible and better trained when getting behind the wheel, he said

Sponsors said the measure is part of a broad effort this year to make Illinois roads safer by tightening driving laws for teens.

Members of White's task force said public hearings found that young drivers would go to court and be sentenced for traffic infractions without their parents ever knowing.

"They've got to know what they're doing," Cullerton said.

The law will urge parents to become more involved with their 16- and 17-year-old drivers by more closely overseeing their driving records and teaching the children to be more responsible behind the wheel, Cullerton said.

The law takes effect Jan. 1.

Another Cullerton measure signed into law will prohibit insurance policies that deny coverage to people who were drinking when they were in car crashes. The idea behind the bill is to identify problem drinkers in order to get them into counseling and intervention programs to prevent worse accidents in the future, Cullerton said. Insurance companies are not always made aware that drinking is involved in an accident, resulting in people who need treatment not always getting it, he said.

"It is another way to fight drunk driving," Cullerton said.

Blagojevich also signed into law a bill designed to reduce the ability of sex offenders to prey on children and other victims through the Internet.

In other action, Blagojevich signed legislation that will generate about $250 million a year by eliminating tax breaks on businesses.

"For too long, working families have shouldered more and more of the tax burden while big business pays less and less," Blagojevich said in a statement. The new law, sponsored by House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago), will reduce opportunities for major Illinois companies to avoid paying taxes by hiding or transferring income to other states or offshore.

The law also sets up a tax amnesty program in February and March to collect $25 million in unpaid back taxes from businesses.